Student Mentor
by Ri-Ryn
Summary: He didn't tell him to stop; he said nothing because Mikumo could get up and try again by himself or not. Izumi wasn't going to become one of the many to explicitly imply he was better off staying down.


**Title:** Student Mentor

 **Author:** Ri-Ryn

 **Genre:** Angst/Drama

 **Word Count:** 530

 **Rating:** M* (Content suitable for Mature Teens) / +T

 **Disclaimer:** World Trigger belongs to Ashihara Daisuke.

 **Summary:** He didn't tell him to stop; he said nothing because Mikumo could get up and try again by himself or not. Izumi wasn't going to become one of the many to explicitly imply he was better off staying down.

 **Warnings:** More possessive behaviors of his protégée! Explicit language. Self-deprecation? Confidence issues. Threats.

 **A/N:** I cannot get away from these two. I appreciated Arashiyama, and while Kitora also helps later on she's quite the bitch of it and only sees Osamu's desperation as arrogance. The irony.

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"...composite shots, please."

"You want to be able to score points by yourself? Sounds like a fine idea." Izumi bit again into his dorayaki, chewing. "Sometimes the whole team gets defeated leaving only the shooter, so why not?"

"Eh?" Osamu was stunned. He figured Izumi would be of the same opinion as Arashiyama-tai, Karasuma-senpai, Kazama-san, _everyone,_ really.

"They're powerful but amateurs tend to leave themselves open. You need more experience as a shooter. If you can beat Yuiga, say, a hundred times then yeah, I'll teach it to you."

Osamu swallowed his cotton tongue.

"What?" Izumi amusedly finished the sweet, choosing to down his tea next.

The captain hesitated. "But, I'm..." He struggled. He knew _exactly_ what he was, but who could voice their faults so _easily_? "I have low trion, no combat affinity and, as you pointed out, inadequate combat experience. There's **no** reason to lead to you into catering to my selfishness."

The blonde shrugged, unperturbed. "Who gives a shit? Sure it could mess you up in the long run, but who the hell cares? It's your business whether you succeed or not. Why the hell should anyone else get a say?"

Osamu clenched his teeth and his neck tensed. _Really?_ _ **Really?**_ "Because they know better," Osamu almost hissed, the truth stinging even as he pursued his goal inspite of it, "They're teachers. I shouldn't argue with them. They have what I do not."

The straw irises were glaring as Izumi leaned forward, arms now resting on his legs as he leveled his gaze at Mikumo, tension apparent. "They know you _better_ than you know _yourself?_ **Doubtful.** " Izumi's lips twisted: ugly, displeased, this _again_.

"They know what they've seen, what's typical of amateurs and the truth to it. And that means they all stopped seeing you as an individual. Teachers should look at the student."

Osamu swallowed again with his head tightly coiled into a mess within his own mind.

"I'm pretty stupid in school. That shit doesn't come naturally to me." Izumi lifted and a hand to point to his person. "But I don't care. I don't _try_ either. Doesn't stop all the sensei from nagging. Why?"

The smile Osamu received, felt, _saw_ , was soft, assured.

Confident.

"I, you, they. _We_ won't know until we get to the end of this what your results will be, whether they are shitty or damn good."

The discord in Osamu's consciousness was silenced.

"So keep standing, Megane-kun." Izumi leaned over the table, jabbing his forefinger square in the middle of Osamu's forehead. He tittered at the other's protesting yelp. "I'll be there every step of the way at your side."

Those _**bastards**_...Kitora, Kyōsuke, Narumiya, Kazama...

He would never tell Osamu to stop. He wouldn't say anything because Osamu could get up and try again himself, and he would. Kōhei was not going to be one of those who told him he was essentially better off staying down in the ground, out of site and worthless.

That's not what mentors did to their students. They did things _for_ their students.

Osamu was his. He'd make sure they didn't touch him. That they stopped ruining him.

Or he would have them rot.

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 _FIN_


End file.
